Kaaradi
The Kaaradi are a subterranean species, which dwell in the dark, wet and cold maze of tunnels known as the Kaarad, the Land (Arad) of Terror (Kaar) in their tongue. Their society is a monarchy which is in the same time elective and hereditary since 2960 years. The Kaaradi aren't the only sapient inhabitant of the Kaarad, since they have slaves... and that the Others from Below still haunt the Kaarad. Biology The Kaaradi are thin and little creatures, and yet muscular and with a lot more stamina that their frame could lets believe, their average size is only 1m40 for the women'' , 1m45 '' for the men on with the smallest ever recorded were 1m02 for a man and 98cm for a woman, while the tallest were 1m60 for a woman and 1m63 for a man. On average, they weight no more than 45kg (99lbs) and no less than 28kg (61lbs). Since they live in an environment without sun, their skin is greyish, with differents shade, ranging from almost white to almost black. Their hair color range from Black to Light Brown, without any Blonde or Ginger. Their eyes and ears also adapted to the Kaarad : the Kaaradi eyes are almond shaped, with the iris having the same range of color than human ones, but their pupils are amethyst and glow in the darkness without light, which allow the Kaaradi to see even without any other source of light than their pupils; their ears are pointy but, dislike elven ones, they have a lobes. Another distinctive feature of the Kaaradi is the fact that they have canines, with four of them being significantly larger than human's ones while the other four have the same size than those from humans. Some Kaaradi come are born with very distinctive features : a milk-like skin instead of a greyish one, silver hairs and jade's pupils. These Kaaradi bear the Sigil of Shal'vrral and are dedicated since their birth to a training as assassins. The Kaaradi usually live roughly a century of the surface world (since they don't have sun or real seasons in their underworld, the Kaaradi use the cycle of life of a very specil fungus, the Laek'tal, which emit a blue light during roughly 7 months of the surface world, and cease to produce light during roughly four months of the surface, which is why a Laek'tal is offered to every newborn). *They are considered babies until the age of 3, they are then seen as children until their age of 10, when they become sexually mature (but not physically mature otherwise) *Once they are able to reproduce the Kaaradi are seen as young adult until the age of fourty, at which they have finally ended their full maturation *'From 40 to 70' they are considered as adults as their bodies doesn't seem to age much (a Kaaradi who is 70 years old would look like a Kaaradi of 40 for non-Kaaradi) *'From 70 to 90' they are considered old and can't reproduce anymore. They are still in good shape (usually) but weaken everyear; they look like a 60 years old human (with the features of their species, of course) *'From 90 to 100 years old', they are seen as elders and are often unable to move for long time, but their minds are clear (usually) and the Elders are known as the keepers of knowledge and history of their species, so they take care of babies and children, teaching them what it is to be a Kaaradi. *As for the Kaaradi who could live longer than a century (a rarity) they are Known as the Ancestrals, but they are usually deeply affected by their old age and thereforce they lost their minds. They are honored because when they began to lost their memories, they are willingly used as sacrifice to keep the cells of the Gods from Below closed The Kaaradi are extremely resilient to known poisons., which result from a slow and prolonged mithridatism, since the Kaaradi often deal with poisons. The reflexes of the Kaaradi are largely above those of humans, which is partially owed to their sharp senses and a partially to an intense training since the age of 3. Society The society of the Kaaradi is really a singuliar one, since it revolve around their driving goal since more than 10,000 years : prevent a massive invasion of the surface world by Those from Below and keep the Gods from Below forever trapped beyond the physical world. This purpose led to a society where martial prowess are held in high esteem, which explain why every Kaaradi is trained for war since the age of three. The Kaaradi are knownw slavers, which could put them at odd with other species, but the truth is that those "slaves" aren't seen as tools or things but as esteemed members of the community, with a voice in the local (and even national) choices. This martial goal is also visible in the form of community adopted by the Kaaradi. The communities of life : When the surface species have villages, the Kaarad's smollest communities are know as Gatherings. Usually, a newly formed Gathering is composed of roughly 200 Kaaradi and between twice and thrice this number in slaves, with an emphasis on martial Bloodlines, such as the Children of Spears, the Axe Wileder or, since less than twenty years and only for a few Gatherings, the Steelgrinder.A Gathering must also posses at least 40 Diggers, a Blooline dedicated to the collection of ore. The Kaaradi alos put an emphasis on what is usually seen by other species as a dishonorable using of deadly poisons when they fight, poisons which are also used on the slave's weapons. Since the Kaarad is a deadly environment, the use of poison is often a mean to survive and protect the slave's life, which is the duty of all Kaaradi who own a slave (and every Kaaradi is gifted by a slave the day he/she is born). Each Gathering swore assistance to its neighbors. The Gathering are often hidden, the entries looking as small cracks in a wide cave, leading to a dead end to anyone but a Kaaradi or a Slave. The inside of a Gathering is almost always a complex of caves linked together by the Diggers (and the others slave's Bloodlines, while the Kaaradi protect them; it isn't unusual for a new Gathering to lost Kaaradi's lives during the excavation, while the slave's end their work without a loss due to wildlife or Those from Below). The Gathering tend to evolve with the decades, centuries and millenniums; some are still Gathering, but art and beauty bloom in their in their caves. Others become Bastions, a small town with roughly 3000 Kaaradi and thrice as much slaves. A Bastion is often near at least ten Gathering and the inhabitants of the Bastion must help and protect the inhabitants of said Gatherings. So, the Bastion named Nal'Pakir, hold of the Kaer Family, which is an old and powerful Bastion is populated by 8500 Kaaradi and must help and protect no less than twenty-five Gatherings. The core of a Bastion is still the complex of cave from the orginal gathering, but as the population grow, the Kaaradi will extend the borders of their communities inside the nearby wide cave and build powerful walls and reservoirs of fresh water (often with fish inside, which are a core component of the Kaaradi's diet). Under construction Religion The Kaaradi have five main gods, collectively known as the Monster-Gods, even by their follower : *'Kor'raal', the main Goddess of the Kaaradi, which name mean "Queen of Fury" is the Goddess of Fury, Carnage and Violence, but also the Goddess of Unity, Honor and Given Word. *'Sta'geshal', the "Soul Stealer" is the God of magic and husband of Kor'raal. He is the patron of Magic, Soul-trapping, Hatred, Wisdom, Writing and Knowledge. Those two gods look a lot like humans, but when you look at them they have something wrong in their appereance, which is really disturbing. *'Kalan'fuelak' "The Dark Flame", Goddess whose body is the one of the most voluptuous woman and whose head is the one of a twisted spider, is the Goddess of Mutilation, Sacrifice, Arrogance, but also the Keeper of the newborn and the Home. *Her brother and husband Mandar'marli "The Master of the Forge" which have the body of an enormous Spider but whose legs end with human hands and whose head is a beautiful human face. He is the God of Forge, Crafting, Terror and Disgust. *And finally the Child of the previous two (which look like a Kaaradi with some differences): Shal'vrral, the "Unholy Child", God of Death, Poison, Murder, Compassion and Love. So the Gods are complex creatures : some species could worship those gods but other would see them as only monstrousnesses. Each Great City of Kaarad hold a Temple for each God. The priests of the Gods are among the most terrific members of the Kaaradi society to face in battle, combining the viciousness of the common Kaaradi with a burning zeal in their gods, turning them in deadly zealots in time of war. There is also minor gods, who could either be Gods of others species worshiped in some Gatherings (often in an unorthodox way) or revered ancestors of the Slave's Bloodlines, such as Athan, the God of the Homekeeper's Bloodline, which his an icon of faith and dedication to his Bloodline. Those ancestor-gods can be widely whorshiped or only at a local level, depending of the notoriety of his or her Bloodline and the spread of saif Bloodline. The Record of the Ashendant is the oldest scripture of the Monster-Gods, which was carved on fourty-four stone tablets. The beings known as the Ashendant by the Kaaradi were the first worshippers of the four oldest Monster-Gods (Kor'raal, Sta'geshal, Kalan'fuelak and Mandar'marli) and possibly of the Gods from Below. The last writing of the Record seems to imply that Those from Below had killed almost all of the Ashendant and that their last hope was to awake :"The Four Oldest, who were sleeping since we forgot them, and the Dark Flame must gave birth to she and her br..." Since the last sentence of the Record is incomplete, the Kaaradi assumed that Shal'vrral was the son of the Dark Flame andd the Master of Forge, hence is name of Unholy Child. History Under Construction Relationship with other species